Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Manitoba 39e 1e Discours du trône 6 juin 2007 John Harvard Lieutenant- gouverneur NPD Mr. Speaker and members of the Manitoba Legislature, I welcome you to the First Session of the Thirty-Ninth Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba. Je vous souhaite la bienvenue à la première session de la trente-neuvième Législature de la Province du Manitoba. Congratulations and best wishes to all new members of the Legislative Assembly, and to those who are returning to this House. Your constituents and the people of Manitoba have entrusted you with important responsibilities: to serve the public interest, to provide vision and leadership, and to make decisions in this Chamber that will shape the future of Manitoba and improve the lives of our citizens. All candidates who put their names forward in the general election deserve to be recognized for the leadership they have shown and their commitment to the democratic process. Among those elected there is a diversity which reflects the face of Manitoba. It is particularly gratifying to see the number of women taking their seats in this Chamber. Our Legislature now has the largest proportion of women of any Legislature in Canada. Your government is honoured to have received a strong and clear mandate to move Manitoba forward. The new mandate will focus on the following priorities: Moving forward in health care, with further increases in the training and recruitment of health professionals and added measures to shorten wait times. Community health options and prevention programs will be expanded. Investments in health facilities will continue to be made in every part of the province, with a special focus on emergency rooms, dialysis treatment, and care for the elderly. Moving forward with a cleaner, healthier environment, while continuing to seize the opportunities of the emerging green economy. Initiatives will be introduced to further strengthen the protection of our waterways, forests, and air quality. In addition, Manitoba will build on our leadership position in environmentally sustainable technologies and the production of clean energy. Moving forward with education and training opportunities for young people here at home. Postsecondary education will be kept affordable for Manitoba students, and for northern and rural residents, new programs will be provided closer to home. Your government will work with employers and educators to expand apprenticeship training and ensure that our provincial skills strategy remains responsive to the growth sectors in our economy. Moving forward by making our communities safer by hiring more police, prosecutors and firefighters, by adding community Lighthouses and other options for youth recreation and by working with the federal government to introduce tougher consequences for those who break the law. Moving forward by preserving affordability, ensuring that Manitoba remains one of the most affordable places to own a home or operate a business, to study, to work and to raise a family. Personal income and business taxes will be further reduced, and homeowners will benefit from increased property tax credits and a multiyear plan to fund 80 percent of school costs from provincial revenues. An increase in the Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit will provide further relief to companies dealing with the impacts of a rapidly rising dollar. Moving forward by keeping Manitoba Hydro owned by and for the citizens of Manitoba. Manitobans will continue to benefit from the lowest electricity rates in North America as well as the economic opportunities resulting from new hydro facilities and wind turbines. And moving forward with our building agenda to establish a foundation for future growth in each region of our province, all Manitoban communities will benefit from an historic $4-billion investment in road construction and upgrades. In the north, construction of the Wuskwatim dam is underway. The Conawapa project has started and a major expansion of the University College of the North is set to begin in Thompson, The Pas and over a dozen Aboriginal communities. The settlement of treaty land entitlements is an economic necessity for First Nations. Manitoba will continue to provide lands for transfer to the federal government and will support a long-overdue major acceleration of TLE claims through a more decisive settlement process. In rural Manitoba, new capital investments are being made to expand the production of smart foods and smart fuels. Research in nutraceuticals and functional foods is triggering investment in food-processing plants and the development of new consumer markets. Ethanol, biodiesel and wind power production are providing a major supplement to the agricultural economy. In Winnipeg and Brandon, major college and university additions will be launched in the coming year overlapping with the completion of Manitoba Hydro's downtown headquarters, the new James Richardson airport terminal and the floodway expansion project. Many of the initiatives underway to achieve these commitments were already presented to this Chamber in the 2006 Speech from the Throne which was debated and passed by members in November and in the 2007-2008 budget which was debated and passed in April. A motion to reintroduce the budget will follow the vote on the Throne Speech allowing the work of the Legislature to continue. Today is the anniversary of D-Day, the assault on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 that began the liberation of western Europe. This anniversary is an opportunity to remember those citizens of Manitoba and Canada who fought to preserve our liberties and to pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country today. In closing, I want to thank our guests and, in particular, the families and friends of our newly-elected members for joining us today for the First Session of the Thirty- Ninth Legislature of Manitoba. I also wish to thank our Speaker and all members of the Legislature for the hard work that lies ahead. As you proceed to carry out the responsibilities the people of Manitoba have entrusted to you, I trust that Thank you, Mr. Speaker.